We Are One

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28

One of the five basic purposes of the church is fellowship. The word fellowship literally means sharing something in common or partnership. Our fellowship with each other grows out of our fellowship with God. The closer we walk with Him, the stronger our partnership with His children.

In this verse, Paul is focused on the well defined distinctions of his day that drew sharp lines and set up high walls between people. These social walls were built on the idea that some people were better than and more valuable than others. But the gospel destroys those walls.

There are obvious differences among people – racial, sexual, and social, but the person who belongs to Christ becomes one with every other believer regardless of the differences. For the follower of Christ, there is to be no discrimination. In the family of God, there is no room for treating one another as more or less valuable.

Consider what James says in James 2:

“My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,’ have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?...but if you show partiality, you are committing sin.”

Pretty strong words. James says partiality is “evil” and “sin.” We are one in the body of Christ with one Lord, one Savior, one mission. Our relationship with Christ is a bond that crosses all cultural obstacles. Therefore, the church is to be a place of love, ministry, and fellowship regardless of who walks in the door.

Written by Phil Henry